Attfield has two favorites in Trial

ETOBICOKE, Ontario − Trainer Roger Attfield will be holding a strong hand in the $150,000 Plate Trial Stakes on Sunday, when he runs Hollinger and Mobilizer. The Trial, the nine-furlong prep for the July 4 Queen's Plate, is the supporting feature on Woodbine Oaks Day and has drawn six other Canadian-bred 3-year-olds.

Hollinger was the undefeated Canadian champion 2-year-old last year, when he won the Coronation Futurity on Polytrack and the Cup and Saucer Stakes on the grass. Hollinger suffered his first loss in his only outing this year, in the restricted Queenston Stakes on May 15. After tracking a slow pace along the inside in that seven-furlong sprint, he faded in the lane and finished seven lengths back in fourth.

"It probably wasn't the right spot for him," Attfield said. "I don't actually know if he needed it as much as the fact that it didn't go the way I wanted it to go. I didn't want him up behind the speed. I wanted him off the pace, but the first quarter wasn't very fast. He was very sharp. In hindsight, I would rather have gone in the Wando Stakes."

Attfield said he was content with Hollinger's work June 4, when he breezed a mile in 1:39.60 in company with Mobilizer, who was clocked in 1:40.60.

"They both worked well, but Hollinger worked better," Attfield said.

Mobilizer won his maiden second time out by a nose here May 8. He took his game to another level two weeks later in a fast allowance, when he was a rallying second to Artic Fern, who came back to trounce older opposition in an optional claimer.

"He had a really wide trip, and Artic Fern has proven that he's a nice horse," Attfield said.

D's Wando and Giant's Tomb have a shot in the Trial.

D's Wando rallied along the rail for second when he came off the shelf in the Woodstock Stakes, and he also chased the crack sprinter Essence Hit Man home when third in the Queenston.

D's Wando served notice that he could be a Plate prospect when he was a fast-closing third in the nine-furlong Coronation.

"It was a very good race," trainer Ian Black said. "He was running better than anybody at the wire."

Giant's Tomb, a son of 1997 Plate winner Awesome Again, finished third against older foes in a slow-paced optional claimer May 8.